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MEMORIAL 



OF THE REVEREND 



GEORGE PUTNAM, D.D., 



LATE PASTOR OF THE 



firjsit ascligtott^ ^ocittv 



IN ROXBURY. 



BOSTON: 
PUBLISHED FOR THE SOCIETY. 

187S. 



H^ 



Copy di 



The Riverside Press, Cambridge: 
Printed by H. O. Houghton and Company. 






GEORGE PUTNAM. 

Ordained July 7, iSjo. 
Died April II, 1S7S. 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH. 



CHARLES K. DILLAWAY. 



George Putnam, son of Andrew and Jerusha 
Clap Putnam, was born in Sterling, Mass., August 
1 6, 1807. His early training was in the academies 
of Leicester and Groton. 

He entered Harvard College in 1822. What he 
was there can be best told by extracts from letters I 
have received from two of his most distinguished 
classmates. 

Rev. Andrew P. Peabody, D, D., says, " He was 
plain, simjDle, and unpretending, — one of the young- 
est in the class, and, though thoroughly manly, in no 
other respect old for his years, — the soul of truth 
and honor, respected and liked by all his classmates, 
dearly loved by many. It is but little to say that in 
speech and life he was all that a young man should 
have been. I think that no one even then would have 
ventured on a coarse or profane utterance in conver- 
sation with him. 



6 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH. 

" He held a high rank in his class, and undoubtedly 
might have had the first place if he had striven for 
it. But I doubt whether he cared for college rank. 
He did care to do thorough work, and less than that 
he could not do. But I do not think that after pos- 
sessing himself of the contents of a lesson, he ever 
took any pains to jDrepare for recitation ; and those 
were times, as you know, when recitations specially 
got up had a high market value. His college work 
was easily done with his clear mind and retentive 
memory. He took good care of his health. He gen- 
erally, I think always, went to bed at nine o'clock, 
and though the early morning lesson was generally 
learned first, if by any chance he had not done it 
justice, the lesson was sacrificed to sleep." 

Rev. George W. Hosmer, D. D., says, " Though 
very quiet, he was always manly, thoughtful, and ready 
with his opinion. It very early was manifest that 
there was a good deal in him. He made no attempt 
to show off, but he never failed, and so, gradually ris- 
ing into notice, he was counted among our able men ; 
and when at one of our Senior exhibitions he had a 
dissertation, I think of Edmund Burke, we all were 
delighted with his power of writing and speaking. 
In college, as in after life, he used his powers easily, 
and seemed always to have large reserved forces." 

These are testimonials of his college life, and they 



BTOGRAPHICAL SKETCH. 7 

are in accordance with many others I have received. 
Among his classmates who became eminent men 
were Nehemiah Adams, D. D., Samuel F. Haven, 
Richard Hildreth, Edward Jarvis, M, D., Cazneau 
Palfrey, D. D., Willard Parker, M. D, Robert Ran- 
toul, Oliver Stearns, D. D., J. T. Stevenson, Timothy 
Walker, LL. D., Samuel H. Walley, and Stephen 
M. Weld. 

After graduating he spent one year as a teacher in 
Duxbury, and then entered the Divinity School at 
Cambridge. What his success was there may be in- 
ferred from the fact that before completing his re- 
quired course of instruction, he received an invitation 
to preach as a candidate for one of the oldest soci- 
eties in New England, and that after officiating but 
three Sundays he was called, by a very general vote, 
to become the associate pastor there of the Rev. Dr. 
Eliphalet Porter. 

His letter of acceptance is dated May 21, 1830. 
He was ordained July 7, 1830. Rev. Orville Dewey, 
D. D., preached the ordination sermon. 

The parish at this time, and for some years after, 
was essentially an agricultural one, a majority of the 
members being substantial farmers. To this class 
the new minister's style of preaching, so plain, direct, 
and impressive, so full of illustrations of God's benef- 
icence in nature, was just what they needed. It made 



8 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH. 

them appreciate their calling in its religious as well as 
secular aspect, and it made them respect each other. 

No one had a higher estimate of country life 
than he, and no enjoyment could be greater than his 
during the summer vacations he spent on the home- 
stead at Sterling. 

In the early days of his ministry there was one 
member of the parish whose influence was so valuable 
that I must speak of him here. This was the late 
John Lowell, — a name widely known and honored, 
— a gentleman of the highest culture and of as varied 
learning as any one of his time. Though never de- 
siring or accepting political office, there was no one 
in the community whose opinions on national affairs 
were regarded with more respect. In social inter- 
course and the relations of private life, the worth and 
beauty of his character were fully displayed. 

He heartily welcomed the young pastor to his new 
field of duty, and gave him the benefit of his friend- 
ship and frequent intercourse. Those who remember 
the rare conversational powers of Mr. Lowell can best 
appreciate such an advantage for a young man just 
entering on professional life. 

In 1 83 1 George Putnam married Elizabeth Anne, 
daughter of Rev. Dr. Henry Ware, Hollis Professor 
of Harvard College. 

No one who knew this lady can forget the benefi- 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH. g 

cence and beauty of her character. Where she was, 
there was sunshine ever. She had a ready sympathy 
for all in trouble, and an open hand for their relief. 
She died March 24, 1866, leaving five children, all of 
whom are now living. 

Gradually in the course of ten years the agricultural 
element in our society disapjaeared. The increased 
value of land, and the estimates of the assessors, drove 
our farmers to more profitable fields. 

The pews they, left were soon filled by the com- 
mercial class, many of them from the highest mercan- 
tile houses in Boston. Some of these, who had not 
been accustomed to look for business talent and expe- 
rience in clerical men, were surprised to find that Dr. 
Putnam could give them wise counsel in mercantile 
emergencies, when even the oldest among them were 
in doubt. No one had a higher estimate of mercan- 
tile honor than he. No one despised more heartily 
any deviation from it. 

Some of his sermons on this theme were of such 
singular merit that he was requested to publish them, 
but this, like many other such requests, he declined. 
He had a singular disinclination to publish anything 
he wrote. His common answer was that after he 
had preached a sermon at home, and thi'ee or four 
times elsewhere by exchanges, it reached more than 
would be likely to read a pamphlet. 



lO BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH. 

There was another class in our society, and not a 
small one, the professional men, whom he delighted 
by the beauty of his language and the brilliancy of 
his thoughts. One trait he had always shown — an 
intuitive sagacity to seize the master key to a subject, 
and so easily open all its parts. I have never known 
a man who came so c|uickly to conclusions, and was so 
generally in the right. He saw at a glance, and his 
position was at once taken. 

In 1845 he was offered the chair of the Hollis 
Professorship at Cambridge, and the friends of the 
college urged him persistently to accept it. The pos- 
sibility of his leaving his society of course produced 
intense excitement there. The letters he received 
from petitioners and remonstrants would make an 
interesting volume. The real question with him was, 
"What is my duty in settling this trying question ? " 
Happily for his society, and for him too, we think, 
he decided to remain with us. The interests of the 
college were always dear to him, and at a later period 
of his life he had abundant opportunity of showing 
his appreciation of them. He was for many years a 
most efficient member of the corporation. His serv- 
ices in that position were greater than the joublic 
knows. To him the college owes it that after the 
Boston fire the appeal was made which brought 
nearly three hundred thousand dollars to make up 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH. II 

the losses the institution had suffered. I know, 
from high authority, that the corporation, all but 
he, thought it was in vain to make the appeal, and 
everything must be retrenched. He alone resisted 
and brought the board to his plan of ajDpeal for 
help. Many other instances could be cited in which 
he showed himself an earnest and efficient friend 
of the college. 

Dr. Putnam was interested largely in public affairs, 
outside of his professional duties. He was a member 
of the constitutional convention, in 1853; one of the 
presidential electors in 1864, and with Edward Ev- 
erett, Ex-Governor Lincoln, and John G. Whittier, 
voted for Abraham Lincoln. In 1869 he was elected 
a member of the Massachusetts legislature, and served 
two years with great efficiency. The ability he 
showed in the discussion of financial questions and 
kindred subjects clearly indicated the practical charac- 
ter of his mind. 

In educational affairs he manifested a deep interest. 
He was chairman of the school committee of Rox- 
bury, and for many years president of the board of 
trustees of our Latin School. He was also presi- 
dent of the trustees of the Fellowes Athenaeum, 
chairman of the trustees of the Boston Young 
Men's Christian Union, and one of the trustees of 
the Boston Public Library. 



12 BIOGRAPHICAL 'SKETCH. 

During his whole ministry the character of his 
preaching was eminently practical, and some of his 
most effective sermons were those addressed to young 
business men. Every-day topics, those that touched 
nearest the lives of his peoj^le, he chose most fre- 
quently. For controversial sermons he had no taste, 
or belief in their usefulness, and in this he resembled 
his venerable predecessor, the Rev. Dr. Porter. To 
the good sense and Christian spirit of both may be 
attributed the harmony which has always subsisted 
among our Roxbury ministers of all denominations. 

In the spring of 1871, a long vacation having been 
granted for health and recreation, he spent six months 
in Europe. The acquaintances he formed there, and 
the interesting places he visited, were ever after among 
his most pleasant memories. 

I come now to that period of his life which proved 
so afflictive to him, and, in its consequences, so full 
of sorrow to his frignds. On the 23d of December, 
1872, he attended a meeting of the Corporation of 
Harvard College. The weather was intensely cold. 
On his return home he was stricken by paralysis. 

Every mode of relief which the best medical advice 
could suggest was immediately obtained. His physi- 
cian, though not discouraging the hope of ultimate 
recovery, gave the family reason to expect that for 
many months he must Ijc an invalid and endure the 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH. 13 

discomforts of confinement to his room. The result 
was in accordance with medical opinion. 

The society took immediate measures to relieve 
him from all anxiety in regard to pastoral duties, and 
expressed in many ways their symj^athy for him in his 
invalid state. 

On the 6th of October, 1873, a letter was received 
from him, so characteristic and of such interest to his 
people, that I must quote largely from it here. 

" It is now just three cjuarters of a year since I have 
been able to discharge any of my pastoral duties, and 
it is uncertain how soon I may be permitted to re- 
sume them, wholly or in part; and of course it is not 
certain that the time will ever arrive. 

" In order to insure that tranquillity of mind which 
in such a case as mine is the first requisite for the 
recovery of health, it is necessary that I should feel 
myself free, both in fact and in appearance, from all 
responsibility for professional services, the least of 
which, in or out of the pulpit, I am forbidden at pres- 
ent to undertake. 

" In the mean time the parish requires for its pros- 
perity the entire energies of a stronger if not a 
younger man ; and I have no right and no wish to 
stand in the way of their procuring and maintaining 
the best talent and services their position and re- 
sources can command. 



14 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH. 

" I therefore find it my duty, as obvious as it is 
painful and afflictive to me, to resign my pastoral 
office, and I do hereby resign it accordingly. 

" I must not in a brief official communication, in- 
dulge myself in any expression of the recollections 
and emotions that crowd upon me in overwhelming 
numbers and force, as I perform this (to me) veiy 
solemn act by which, so far as depends on me, I dis- 
solve a tie that has continued through these forty- 
three years, with so much happiness to myself and in 
such unbroken harmony on all sides ; an act which, 
when it shall have taken effect, brings to a close a 
work which has engrossed all the years and all the 
ambitions of my youth and my age, and embodied all 
the little usefulness that my life has to show for itself; 
the work in which I have found the richest satisfac- 
tions the world has afforded me, and to which I have 
given all the faculties I possessed, with many and 
grievous shortcomings, I know but too well, yet cer- 
tainly with no divided interest or affection. 

" I shall hope under any circumstances to spend the 
remainder of my days here, amid the associations en- 
deared to me by use and wont and the manifold ex- 
periences of life. I hope to live and die among the 
kind and faithful friends who I know will not quite 
forget me among the stronger claims of any new pas- 
toral relationship ; friends who to a large extent are 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH. 1 5 

the children and grandchildren of those parishioners 
who so long ago brought me here, and warmly wel- 
comed me and mine to the new home that has now 
become hallowed to heart and memory by the cheery 
labors and the chastening trials, the sunshine and 
clouds, of near half a century." 

When the reading of this letter was finished, the 
Hon. John J. Clarke, after appropriate remarks, pre- 
sented a series of resolutions expressive of the strong 
attachment of the society, their high appreciation of 
his past services, and their unwillingness to accept his 
resignation. 

The meeting was also eloquently addressed by the 
Hon. William Gray, who advocated the adoption of 
the resolutions. 

A committee^ was then appointed to confer with 
Dr. Putnam on his letter and the doings of this meet- 
ing. 

In the report of that committee it was stated that 
they presented the resolutions, assuring him that they 
expressed the sentiments of every member of the so- 
ciety ; that we all looked hopefully for his restoration 
to health and for the satisfaction of again hearing him 
in our jDulpit ; but whether this hope was to be real- 

^ Consisting of C. K. Dillaway, William Gray, Samuel C. Cobb, John 
J. Dixwell, George Lewis, Charles Hickling, William Crosby, and John 
L. D'Wolf. 



1 6 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH. 

ized or not, we were not ready and should not be 
ready to accept his resignation of an office so long 
and so honorably filled. His society wished his con- 
nection with them, which time had strengthened and 
endeared, to continue unbroken till the end of his life, 
such having been the expectation of both parties at 
the time of his settlement. 

Dr. Putnam assured the committee that he fully 
appreciated the unfailing kindness of the members of 
the society ever since the day of his settlement here. 
The fact that the resolutions had been adopted unani- 
mously he considered sufficient to induce him to as- 
sent willingly to the request of the society. 

This report was accepted, and in view of the im- 
paired health of Dr. Putnam, measures were immedi- 
ately taken for the election of an associate pastor. 
The society soon united in giving a call to the Rev. 
John Graham Brooks, which call was accepted. 

His ordination took place on Sunday, October lo, 
1875. In the order of exercises were: Reading of the 
Scriptures and ordaining prayer, by Rev. C. C. Ever- 
ett, D. D. ; ordaining address, by Rev. George Put- 
nam, D. D. ; sermon, by the pastor elect; and con- 
cluding prayer by Rev. Wm. Newell, D. D. 

During the succeeding year the senior pastor ap- 
peared often in the pulpit, but rarely took part in the 
services beyond the reading of a hymn. If he ven- 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH. 17 

tured upon a sermon his people listened with in- 
creased interest to the words which fell from his lips, 
for they were conscious how soon that voice, which 
had so charmed them by its utterances in the past, 
might cease forever. 

The last time he was heard in his pulpit he 
spoke with his usual impressiveness, but it was 
painfully evident from the feebleness of his voice 
that no progress had been made in the recovery 
of his health. The disease had taken too strong- 
hold upon him for any human agency to remove. 
By the advice of his friends he did not preach 
again, though occasionally taking some part in the 
Sunday services. 

The closing days of Dr. Putnam were a happy 
sequel to his beneficent life. Visions of the higher 
world were flitting before him and they were wel- 
comed. His work was done and he had a Christ- 
ian's readiness to account for the trusts committed 
to him. 

As one of his classmates stood near not long before 
his death, he said, " Hosmer, this is as happy a year 
as any in my life:" — after such years, — and he in 
his invalid chair, — the world sinking away before 
him. No doubt he enjoyed the retrospect, though 
he said not much about it, and he enjoyed the pros- 



1 8 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH. 

pect too. He expected — he saw something and 
trusted for more than he saw, — 

" Knowing that his earth-receding grasp 
Was on the anchor of eternal life." 



ACTION OF THE SOCIETY. 

A MEETING of the " First Religious Society in Rox- 
bury " was held in the Putnam Chapel, at three o'clock 
p. M., on Saturday the thirteenth day of April, a. d. 
1878, to take appropriate action in regard to the death 
of the Senior Pastor, Rev. George Putnam, D. D. 

The meeting was called to order by Joseph W. 
Tucker, clerk of the society, who read the call for 
the meeting and addressed the Proprietors as fol- 
lows: — 

My Friends, — The notice which I have just read 
is a sad one to act upon. But it is fitting and proper 
that we, the Members of the " First Religious So- 
ciety in Roxbury," should assemble on this occasion 
and consult together, and make the necessary prepar- 
ations for the funeral service and render the last 
tribute of respect and esteem to the remains of our 
honored friend and religious teacher, the Senior Pas- 
tor of this society, who passed away quietly at his own 
home, surrounded by his family, on Thursday even- 
ing, the eleventh instant, at 8:40 o'clock, on the anni- 
versary of that day when he preached his first sermon 
in the church he afterward loved so well. 



20 ACTION OF THE SOCIETY. 

And now, friends, with your approval I will ask the 
Hon. Samuel C. Cobb to take the chair and preside 
over the deliberations of this meeting. 

The selection of Mr. Cobb as chairman was ap- 
proved by the meeting, and on taking the chair he 
spoke as follows: — 

REMARKS OF HON. SAMUEL C. COBB. 

Dear Friends, — We meet under the shadow of a 
great affliction. 

He who has ministered unto this people so" accepta- 
bly, — the faithful pastor, the great preacher, the wise 
counsellor, the good citizen, and the steadfast friend, 
— has been called from the scene of his earthly labors, 
and a united and devoted people mourn his depart- 
ure. 

We do well, dear friends, to come together at this 
time to mingle our sympathies and our tears under 
the pressure of this grief, and at the same time to 
meditate together on the solemn and mournful event, 
and to pay our tribute of respect to the memory of this 
good man, — who has gone in and out before this peo- 
ple for nearly half a century, who has occupied so 
large a space in all our hearts, and who has so often 
led us to contemplate the beauties of revealed religion, 
and the glorious promises of an assured immortality. 

I will not invade the sacred precincts of a long 



ACTION OF THE SOCIETY. 21 

personal acquaintance and intimacy, to speak of our 
departed friend as he was in the private walks of life. 
_I dare not now trust myself to do so. Neither is this 
the time nor the place for eulogy. 

He has left the impress of his mind not only upon 
the religious convictions of the times, but upon the 
methods and purposes of secular education. His 
labors in behalf of our great university, as a member 
of our school boards, and as a director of our public 
libraries, will long be recognized and honored by all 
promoters of sound learning. 

No one had a better opportunity than myself to 
know and to appreciate his exalted character and his 
great endowments. He combined, in a remarkable 
degree, the attributes of a full and well-balanced 
Christian character ; the strength that came of a mas- 
sive and cultured intellect, coupled with the tender- 
ness and serenity that reflect the sure abiding faith 
within. 

How we who have known him so long, as friend 
and pastor, will miss his genial presence, and his im- 
pressive words ! And what a loss has our denomina- 
tion sustained in his departure ! 

Let us sanctify in our hearts all that was wise and 
good in his counsels, all that was elevating and en- 
nobling in his example, and remember always with 
thankfulness that we have been blessed in no ordinary 
degree by his long and faithful ministrations. 



2 2 ACTION OF THE SOCIETY. 

It now remains for you to take such action in rec- 
ognition of this melancholy dispensation as you shall 
deem to be appropriate. 

REMARKS OF HON. JOHN J. CLARKE. 

A truly good man is removed. His work all done 
and well done. He taught us in his sickness as in 
health. He was uncomplaining, resigned, and for him 
death had no terrors. The moistened eyes, sad coun- 
tenances, and earnest inquiries testify of the high es- 
teem in which he was held. 

We trust confidently that he will sit in heavenly 
places, at God's right hand, in comjDany with Him 
who was made perfect through suffering, and died 
that we might live. 

He needs no eulogy ; all know his worth ; his rep- 
utation is spread world-wide. But it is proper that we 
leave a record, for future generations, of our estimate 
of him as a Christian teacher and a Christian man. I 
therefore submit the following resolutions : — 

Resolved, That, in the death of Rev. Dr. George 
Putnam, this society has lost, in its Senior Pastor, one 
who, for nearly half a century of unbroken harmony, 
has been most warmly beloved and preeminently dis- 
tinguished as a religious teacher and a wise counsel- 
lor; and has uniformly, from his settlement with us, 
commanded the respect, affection, and admiration of 



ACTION OF THE SOCIETY. 23 

all who came under his influence ; and by his parish- 
ionei's will never cease to be affectionately remem- 
bered. 

Resolved, That Dr. Putnam enforced, with uncom- 
mon power, the moral precepts of the Christian relig- 
ion, and the supreme importance for all to govern 
their conduct by those principles in the performance 
of the daily and hourly practical duties of life ; and 
that his devotional exercises were remarkable for their 
reverence, and peculiar adaptation to the occasion ; 
and that no one could listen to his preaching and to 
his prayers without being strongly and seriously im- 
pressed by their fervent spirit. 

Resolved, That we tender our warmest sympathies 
to his bereaved family for their and our irreparable 
loss, but feel that he has been removed from this 
world of care, trial, and suffering, to another state of 
existence where he will be greeted with the blessed 
announcement of " well done, good and faithful ser- 
vant, enter thou into the joy of thy Lord." 

Resolved, That a committee of six be appointed to 
adopt such measures as may be deemed by them 
proper and suitable for the funeral services. 

Following the reading of the resolutions, remarks 
were made by several members of the Society as fol- 
lows : — 



24 ACTION OF THE SOCIETY. 

ALMON D. HODGES. 

I rise to move the adoption of the appropriate res- 
olutions offered by Mr. Clarke. I have been an at- 
tendant on Dr. Putnam's services for over twenty- 
eight years, and am very thankful to say that I fully 
estimate the loss of our beloved Pastor and friend, 
who has so faithfully served us for so many years. 
His memory had been present with me both by day 
dreams and night dreams, since his decease, and I 
shall continue to dearly cherish his memory as long 
as life shall last. 

CHARLES K. DILLAWAY. 

I heartily assent to the resolutions that have been 
offered. They express felicitously, I think, what we 
all want to express for the memory of Dr. Putnam. 
My acquaintance with him dates farther back, proba- 
bly, than that of any of our Society. It began in col- 
lege life when he was but sixteen years of age. What 
he was then in the character of his mind, his personal 
appearance, everything indeed belonging to his age, 
is as distinctly before me now as it was then, though 
half a century has elapsed. He had a mind of singu- 
lar vigor, which grasped quickly and firmly whate\-cr 
it aimed to accomplish. Though never a close stu- 
dent or hard worker in any way, he soon placed him- 
self amontj; the foremost men of liis class. 



ACTION OF THE SOCIETY. 25 

Like the rest of us, he had his likes and dishkes in 
regard to certain studies. IMathematics, for instance, 
he particularly disliked, believing, as he said, that he 
had neither taste or head for such work. 

The Professor of that department thought differ- 
ently, and encouraged him to give more attention to 
it. The result was that he became one of the best 
mathematicians in the class. 

When he graduated from the Divinity School, he 
had some misgivings that his youthful appearance 
would keep him long among the candidates. To his 
surprise he received very early an invitation to be- 
come an associate pastor of one of the oldest Socie- 
ties in New England. 

What he has been to us during his long and suc- 
cessful ministry here we all know. In his profes- 
sional life he worked and studied less, I think, than 
his clerical brethren generally. Yet, who among 
those, in New England, so swiftly reached the fore- 
most rank as he did t Who among them more effec- 
tive in his preaching, or more influential than he? 
And his influence was not confined to his parish. 
All classes in the community felt and recognized it. 

Our clergymen of every denomination respected 
him, for they knew how free from bigotry he was, and 
how ready to respect the religious opinions of others, 
however widely they might differ from his own. And 



26 ACTION OF THE SOCIETY. 

I believe, sir, that to-morrow there will be in our pul- 
pits generally, an expression of sympathy for our loss, 
and a tribute of respect to the memory of Dr. Put- 
nam. 

ADAMS AVER. 

The traveller standing at the bottom of the valley 
of Chamonix, in the evening, may watch the lingering 
light of departing day as it creeps up the drear sides 
of the mountains to the east, until it disappears, and 
he finds himself in the deep gloom, that hangs like a 
pall over everything around. Lifting then his eyes to 
the snowy crest of Mont Blanc he will notice a faint 
blush of light, that increases in intensity and widens 
in extent, until out of the deep shadows, the whole 
face of the mountain unveils itself in a light equaled 
only by the brightness of noonday. This is the famed 
Alpine afterglow, which comes as a reminder of the 
glory of the day that has gone and as a harbinger 
of a brighter day to come. 

So when we are in the dark valley of sorrow, over- 
shadowed by the wings of the death angel that has 
carried away our friend, may we catch glimpses of 
that diviner afterglow, a radiance from the life that 
has gone to remind us of the brighter life to come. 

" The good man dies : it grieves us. 
Why should the good man die ? 
He dies, and dying, leaves us 
A lasting legacy." 



ACTION OF THE SOCIETY. 27 

A legacy which quickens oui- best purposes, our 
most devout aspirations, our most fervent wishes for 
good, by the memory of words which have sounded 
so often in our ears and touched our hearts, words 
full alike of solemnity and of joy, fitted to win and 
inspire. 

The first time I ever heard Dr. Putnam was more 
than thirty years ago, and the memory of that sermon 
is bright and clear to-day. The text was, " If thou 
hadst been here, our brother had not died." The 
burden of the sermon was this : It is always true, if 
something had been changed in the past, something 
in the present would be different. Jesus knew this, 
and was not present because he desired to render a 
more essential service by being absent, than he could 
by being with the sisters of Lazarus before his death. 

The next sermon, heard several years later, was 
from the text, " In quietness and in confidence shall 
be your strength." This like the other has its lesson 
for us, now. The waves lashing the shore are mani- 
festations of strength. But the rocks which resist the 
shock are alike indications of it. When we have done 
our duty, we show our strength, not by restless wor- 
rying, but by dismissing all anxious care, and waiting 
in serene confidence the result. 

About seventeen years ago I came to this part of 
the town and connected myself with this society, and 



28 ACTION OF THE SOCIETY. 

I am sure you will all agree with me in saying that 
we have heard such preaching as has rarely been 
heard in this or any land. Sermons have been 
preached to us from Sunday to Sunday that have 
strengthened us in our weakness, that have quickened 
and cheered us when faint and weary, that have com- 
forted us when laden with the burden of sorrow, 
that have been an inspiration to us always to help us 
on the way of life. And so direct and pungent has 
been the preaching, that while crowds have been ad- 
dressed, vi^e have often felt as though he had sought 
us out as individuals, and fitted his words to meet 
our peculiar needs. 

But we have learned his lessons but poorly if we 
cannot now catch some glimpses of light let in 
through the rifts made in the clouds by his passage 
onward and upward. May we not use with feeling 
the words of the poet Bryant : — 

" I am glad that he has lived thus long, 
And glad that he has gone to his reward. 

Nor deem that kindly nature did him wrong 
Softly to disengage the vital cord. 

When his weak hand grew palsied, and his eye 

Dim with the mists of age, it was his time to die." 

No ! not die, blessed be God, he has not died. He 
has oone to 



ACTION OF THE SOCIETY. 29 

" . . . . those everlasting gardens 
Where angels walk and seraphs are the wardens, 

Where every flower that creeps through death's dark portal 
Becomes immortal." 

HON. WILLIAM GRAY. 

Permit me, as one who has heard the preaching of 
Rev. Dr. Putnam for many years, to express some of 
the thoughts which rise in my mind as I recall- our 
long acc{uaintance. 

At the time of his settlement as Associate Pastor 
of the First Religious Society in Roxbury, the Unita- 
rian pulpit was occupied by bright lights in the min- 
istry ; and, from the first, he held a distinguished 
place among them. His youthful appearance, his 
earnest thought, his gift of eloquence, that indescriba- 
ble faculty which holds the judgment and the heart 
of thoughtful persons, are present to all who go back 
in memory to those days. 

His unassuming manners, free from all self asser- 
tion, with their child-like simplicity, gave a charm to 
his society, which was everywhere welcome. From 
his quiet modesty of demeanor, it would have been 
inferred that he regarded himself only as one of the 
great mass of the people, with no higher gifts, and no 
greater claims to consideration than the multitudes 
among whom he moved. 

He was a man of large humanity. He regarded 



30 ACTION OF THE SOCIETY. 

with a living interest the manners, customs, and em- 
ployments of all classes. He made himself acquainted 
with their thoughts and pursuits, and won their con- 
fidence by his ready sympathy. With this familiar- 
ity he became eminently practical in his own habitual 
thought ; but such practical thought never lessened 
or impaired his delight in depicting the highest ideals 
to which man can reach or aspire. Although cjuite 
able to rise to the lofty heights of contemplation, he 
seemed to be more attracted to the portrayal of the 
traits developed in the usual life of mankind, and en- 
deavored by his teaching and eloquence lo illustrate 
and adorn the good, and to condemn the bad. 

He had a poetical temperament, moderated by a 
love of strict truth, and a clear insight into the limi- 
tations which attend all careful statement. Masters 
of dialectics may have sometimes been startled by 
the boldness of his fancy, but, before he left his 
theme, they were usually consenting hearers to his 
conclusions. 

A quotation in one of his sermons seems to present 
him as he lived among us under its constant influ- 
ence : " In the day of final account the question will 
be, not what have we done for ourselves, but what 
have we done for others ; not what have been our 
gains, but the spirit we are of" 

In the later years of his life, though stricken with 



ACTION OF THE SOCIETY. 31 

grave illness, he bore his cross with meekness and 
submission, until the welcome summons called him to 
rest. 

WILLIAM G. RUSSELL. 

There is one limitation fixed to our speech to-day : 
that limit is the line of strictest truth ; for nothing we 
could do or say would more offend him of whom we 
speak if he were present (and who shall say that he 
is not) than that we should by one jot or one tittle 
transcend that line. 

We have all known Dr. Putnam as a preacher; it 
is in that character that he stood preeminent, and that 
we shall hold him in perpetual remembrance. He 
filled the pulpit as it is seldom filled, and retained in 
it power at a period when the pulpit has confessedly 
lost in great degree its influence. 

This is no time for an analysis of the qualities, 
moral or intellectual, by which that power was ac- 
quired or exerted ; but some of the more obvious 
traits of the great preacher may be traced while they 
are fresh in memory. 

Perhaps the first of his qualifications as a religious 
teacher was this, that he never ceased to be a learner. 
He was not in the ordinary sense of the word a 
scholar : he read indeed widely in general literature ; 
and kept up with the current thought of the day in 
broader fields and other departments as well as in 



32 ACTION OF THE SOCIETY. 

matters pertaining directly to his own profession ; but 
in the great school of life, of the world, of things, of 
man, he was from first to last and always a student, 
shrewd, observant, thoughtful, diligent, and apt; and 
when he spoke to men of man and what was in man 
he spoke of what he had thus learned and knew. 

Again, he was faithful in his work. Not naturally 
inclined to labor, he yet never came to the pulpit un- 
prepared or half prepared ; his discourse was always 
composed with a premeditated plan as clearly and 
definitely designed as the story of the novelist or the 
plot of a drama ; and as he advanced with no hesitat- 
ing stejD from point to point, not disdaining now and 
then to stop along the path to gather some flower of 
poesy, or to catch a glimpse of pictured landscape and 
to give their beauty and highest meaning to the lis- 
tener, he yet always moved straight onward to his 
main purpose, to teach or enforce some lesson of 
practical wisdom or high morality, to breathe into the 
soul some inspiration of a higher life, or nerve it to a 
new and better resolve. 

We always felt that he was giving us his best 
thought matured both in substance and in form. 

His intellect was of great native vigor, of sound, 
robust, wholesome strength, direct and clear in its 
methods, honest and true ; but his great power lay in 
the fervid energy and earnestness which possessed 



ACTION OF THE SOCIETY. 33 

and animated his mind when it was in action. It is 
easy to see that his work was done under high pres- 
sure and yet with all his faculties under complete 
control ; and week by week the glowing product came 
forth from the mint and coinage of his brain, struck 
off if not at the white heat of poetic fervor, yet with a 
forceful energy which alike pervaded thought, style, 
and delivery. 

It is no disparagement to say that his printed ser- 
mons will not wholly or fairly represent the preacher. 
This is merely to say that the power of the man is 
not wholly to be found in his thought or his word ; is 
it not rather the highest praise, to say that behind 
thought and language the hearer recognizes the 
strong presence, the mysteriotis power of personality, 
which cannot be transmitted in the written word. 

And now, as we recall them, what a wonderful and 
varied series of discourses it has been our privilege to 
hear during these many years. 

Sermons of poetic imagery, in which sometimes he 
seemed to grasp the artist's pencil, as when, for ex- 
ample, he portrayed to us Jesus walking in the porch 
of Solomon's temple, and we felt as if we were gazing 
on the canvas of a Titian or a Raphael ; sermons of 
close analysis and reasoning, in which he dealt with the 
great problems of life ; sermons of practical wisdom, 
in which he inculcated the great lessons of morality, 
5 



34 ACTION OF THE SOCIETY. 

or discussed even the lesser helps to a virtuous life, 
like that in which he borrowed his illustration from 
the undergirders of Paul's shijD ; sermons of sentiment, 
like that on All Saints' Day, which called up to each 
of his hearers the most hallowed associations of his 
life ; sermons on the greater and higher topics of his 
faith, the existence of God and the life immortal, in 
which he seemed almost to see with actual and as- 
sured vision the invisible realities. 

All these and how many more we owe to the great 
preacher we have lost. 

Of Dr. Putnam as a pastor I will not speak in pres- 
ence of those into whose homes he has come so often 
and for so many years, with words of good cheer in 
your happy days, with wise advice and comfort in 
time of trial, and with tender sympathy in hours of 
darkness and bereavement. 

A single word I may say of him as a man and a 
citizen. 

He doubtless felt that the pulpit was his post, and 
the parish his field of work ; yet when he was called 
to places of trust which he was cjualified to fill, he 
recognized the call and the obligation it imposed ; the 
call was not infrequent, the trusts were not unimpor- 
tant, and they were faithfully discharged. 

In the pulpit itself he enforced patriotism as a re- 
ligious duty when the time called for its enforcement ; 



ACTION OF THE SOCIETY. 35 

and in the time of our country's great trial few men 
in the church or out of it did more than he towards 
maintaining a sound pubHc opinion and strengthening 
the hands of the government. We all can recall his 
memorable utterance at a time when the free utter- 
ance of his opinion on public affairs had disturbed 
some of his hearers, that if he must choose between 
his parish and his country he should remember that 
he was a citizen before he became a preacher. Thus 
he recognized and fulfilled the duty and the trust of 
citizenship as conscientiously as he performed all 
other trusts. 

EDWARD B. REYNOLDS. 

As one who has grown up under the ministrations 
of this i^arish, Mr. Chairman, I am prompted to offer 
my humble tribute also. Indeed I can truly say that 
in childhood, in youth, and to the present hour. Dr. 
Putnam has been the inspiration of my life, and if 
there be anything good in me — under God and with 
a thought for what my parents have done — I am in- 
debted to that true man. 

The words that he spoke from this pulpit were liv- 
ing words. They went with me through all the ex- 
periences of the week. They came to mind and were 
a mighty help when trials befell, when the heart was 
heavy, when sorrow overwhelmed, yes, in time of 



36 ACTION OF THE SOCIETY. 

joy also. It always seemed as if the sermon and the 
prayer were to meet my particular and individual 
need. As if he knew my want and intended what 
was said for me alone. And more than once at the 
close of a service have I gone to him and told him so. 
I am glad to stand here as a witness. God grant 
that his influence may never be lost and that I may 
ever think of him as my minister. 

JOSEPH W. TUCKER. 

The Resolutions presented by my friend Mr. 
Clarke convey, I think, a very correct idea of the 
character of our honored and esteemed friend and 
religious teacher. No words of mine can add any- 
thing to what is expressed in those Resolutions. 

I was in this part of Roxbury often, during the 
years from 1822 to 1827, and permanently established 
myself in business July 7, 1827. And our respected 
friend was ordained July 7, 1830. 

I attended church and heard the Rev. Dr. Porter 
preach three years before Dr. Putnam came ; and 
was in the choir of singers, at that time, and remained 
there many years afterward. I remember his young 
and genial face when he first preached as a candidate ; 
we were then both young and have since grown old 
together, and in all the varied walks of life, both pub- 
lic and private, during the forty-eight years of his 



ACTION OF THE SOCIETY. 37 

ministry, nothing unpleasant has ever passed between 
us. 

Mr. Chairman, you and I have lost a great and 
good friend, and so has the whole community. I 
wish that I had words at my command to express my 
own feelings upon this occasion. 

I will say in the words of the lamented Lincoln at 
Gettysburg : " The world will little note nor long re- 
member what we say here, but it can never forget 
what they did here." And so with our departed 
friend : not what we say here, but what he did here 
we can never forget. 

The eloquent sermons he preached ; his character ; 
the life he lived ; the faithful manner in which he 
performed all his work ; his honesty and uprightness ; 
his many virtues and purity of life, — these all live 
and will remain with us forever. 

What a lesson for us all to study ; especially those 
who have heard him thi^ough his whole ministry ; yes, 
he has left an enduring monument, embodied in the 
acts of his whole life ; when reviewed by the living 
and understood, it will beautify and elevate the Chris- 
tian character and crown it with success. 

The question was then put upon the Resolutions, 
and they were unanimously adopted, by a rising vote. 



38 ACTION OF THE SOCIETY. 

A committee was tlien appointed, consisting of 
George Lewis, Roland Worthington, David M. Hodg- 
don, John L. DeWolf, Edward B. Reynolds, and Wil- 
liam Blanchard, to take charge of the funeral services 
at the church. 



^h -X. 




SERVICES AT THE FUNERAL 

OF 

REV. GEORGE PUTNAM, D. D., 

IN THE MEETING-HOUSE OF 

THE FIRST RELIGIOUS SOCIETY IN ROXBURY. 

Sunday, April 14, 1S7S. 



Voluntary on the Organ. 

Anthem. D Flat. Dudley Buck. 

" Blessed are the dead who in the Lord are sleeping : 
Even so, saith the spirit; for they rest from their labors." 

Hymn. Tune, " Eventide." William Hejiry Monk. 

" Abide with me ! fast falls the eventide ; 
The darkness deepens, Lord, with me abide : 
When other helpers fail, and comforts flee, 
Help of the helpless, oh, abide with me ! 

" Swift to its close ebbs out life's little day ; 
Earth's joys grow dim, its glories pass away ; 
Change and decay in all around I see : 
O Thou who changest not, abide with me ! 



40 SERVJCES AT THE FUNERAL. 

" I need thy presence every passing hour : 
What but thy grace can foil the tempter's power? 
Who Hke thyself my guide and stay can be ? 
Through cloud and sunshine, oh, abide with me ! 

" I fear no foe, with thee at hand to bless : 
Ills have no weight, and tears no bitterness : 
Wliere is death's sting ? where, grave, thy victory ? 
I triumph still, if thou abide with me • 

" Hold thou the cross before my closing eyes ! 
Shine through the gloom, and point me to the skies ! 
Heaven's morning breaks, and earth's vain shadows flee : 
In life and death, O Lord, abide with me ! " 



Selections from the Scriptures. 

BY REV. ANDREW P. PEABODY, D. D. 

Lord, thou hast been our dwelling-place in all generations. 

Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever thou hadst 
formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlast- 
ing thou art God. 

Lord, who shall abide in thy tabernacle ? who shall dwell in thy 
holy hill ? 

He that walketh uprightly, and worketh righteousness, and speak- 
eth the trudi in his heart. 

Thou will show me the path of life : in thy presence is fullness 
of joy ; at thy right hand there are pleasures forevermore. 

Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I 
will fear no evil : for thou art with me ; thy rod and thy staff they 
comfort me. 



SERVICES A 2' THE FUNERAL. 4 1 

Mark the perfect man, and behold the upright : for the end of 
that man is peace. 

And they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firma- 
ment ; and they that turn many to righteousness, as the stars for- 
ever and ever. 

The souls of the righteous are in the hand of God, and there 
shall no torment touch them. 

For glorious is the fruit of good labors ; and the root of wisdom 
shall never fall away. 

The memorial of virtue is immortal : because it is known with 
God, and with men. 

When it is present, men take example at it ; and when it is gone 
they desire it : it weareth a crown, and triumpheth forever, having 
gotten the victory, striving for undefiled rewards. 

Honorable age is not that which standeth in length of time, nor 
that is measured by number of years. 

But wisdom is the gray hair unto men, and an unspotted life is 
old age. 

Jesus said, I am the resurrection and the life : he that believeth 
in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live : 

And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. 

Let not your heart be troubled : ye believe in God, believe also 
in me. 

In my Father's house are many mansions : if it were not so, I 
would have told you : I go to prepare a place for you. 

And if I go and prepare a place for you, 1 will come again, and 
receive you unto myself, that where I am, there ye may be also. 

I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them 
Vifhich are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no 
hope. 

For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them 
also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him. 



42 SERVICES AT THE FUNERAL. 

Remember those which have the rule over you, who have spoken 
unto you the word of God ; whose faith follow, remembering the 
end of their conversation : 

Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to-day, and forever. 

Now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the first fruits of 
them that slept. 

For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection 
of the dead. 

For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. 

It is sown in corruption, it is raised in incorruption ; 

It is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory: it is sown in weak- 
ness, it is raised in power : 

It is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. 

For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal 
must put on immortality. 

So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this 
mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass 
the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory. 

O death, where is thy sting ? O grave, where is thy victory ? 

Thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord 
Jesus Christ. 

These are they which follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth. 
These were redeemed from among men. 

And in their mouth was found no guile. 
. Therefore are they before the throne of God, and serve him day 
and night in his temple ; and he that sitteth on the throne shall 
dwell among them. 

They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more: neither 
shall the sun light on them, nor any heat. 

For the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed 
them, and shall lead them unto living fountains of waters : and 
God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes. 



SERVICES AT THE FUNERAL. 43 

Sentence. Arratigcd from Wag^iei', by D. Buck. 

" Come unto me all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I 
will give you rest : Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me, for I 
am meek and lowly in heart, and ye shall find rest unto your souls." 

REV. EDWARD EVERETT HALE. 

Let US join in prayer. Come to us, Almighty God, 
our merciful Father, as only thou canst come. Come 
to lift us up and make us strong. Come to give us of 
thy life ; come to us in answer to our faltering prayer 
as thou hast answered when he has led us in our 
petition. Open thy kingdom to us that we may see 
across the way, and help us that we may walk with 
thee as when he has led us to the throne of grace. 
For we are alone unless we have thee to be our com- 
panion. We are weak, indeed, unless we have a Fath- 
er's strength, and life is very dark as we stand at the 
open grave, unless thou wilt open our eyes to see, our 
ears to hear, and our hearts to understand. O 
Father, draw near to us, as the father draws near to 
his little ones. Draw near to these households of his 
children he can no longer minister to; bless them in 
their tears. Make their tears indeed to be blessings 
to them, and grant that through the gateway of sor- 
row they may pass in, that they may see everlasting 
life. Yes, Father, come to all of us. Have we not 
walked with him, and been confident with his help 



44 SERVICES AT THE FUNERAL. 

and strength and affection ? Have we not listened to 
his words of counsel and been blessed by his exam- 
ple and been strengthened by his strength and been 
cheered by his comfort? We know we are of one 
family in sorrow, in this home of our worship, and we 
need thee. Father, that thou wilt be with us. Speak 
to us still in those counsels which have so often been 
spoken from this place, that he may lead us to a Sav- 
iour and to thee, and that in the memory of the 
words we may rise above the world and things of the 
world, and take communion together; be inspired by 
thy spirit ; be made strong by a Saviour's love ; may 
be knit together as brethren and sisters; may come 
together at thy throne and receive thy blessing. He 
prays while we pray. He prays for us while we pray 
who are left behind, and we are not parted now but to 
come at last to the throne of God together. Father, we 
thank thee for these ministrations of long and happy 
years; we thank thee for these words of wisdom, for 
these tender counsels, for each day's sympathy as he 
came to our homes, as he led us by the way, as he sor- 
rowed with us in our sorrow and rejoiced with us in 
our joy. And now, Father, show us how we may so 
walk in our daily pilgrimage that when the gates are 
open to us, we may not be strangers in the heavenly 
kingdom. Thou hast been pleased to welcome him 
in at the city, and there are many there whom he has 



SERVICES AT THE FUNERAL. 45 

helped and blessed and directed here. He meets so 
many with whom he has struggled here, he meets so 
many whom he has comforted and blessed, that as he 
enters in at the gates they take him by the hand and 
lead him step by step through the eternal city, while 
we are waiting here. O Father, help us so to live 
in faith and hope and love, that we may not be stran- 
gers when the Lord comes to us, but may be ready to 
change in a moment, when this corruptible shall put 
on incorruption, and this mortal be clothed with im- 
mortality. We ask thy blessing for her, thy servant, 
who is not able to be with us, but who prays with us, 
as she suffers with our sorrows. Father, there are 
many in every land who have listened to his words, 
who have been blessed by his benediction, who have 
been led by him, who will mourn with our sorrow and 
pray with our prayers. Thou hast blessed him in- 
deed, as from year to year thou hast shown him that 
he has blessed so many. Now they rise up in every 
land to call him blessed, and to ask that this mercy by 
which thou hast ministered through him may still 
minister to thy holy church everywhere. Be pleased 
to be with this ancient church in this moment of its 
sorrow. Knit together all those who meet together 
for worship. Bless these children who have rejoiced 
in his smile, whom he has baptized with the waters of 
life, and grant to these people that they may continue 



46 SERJ'ICES AT THE FUNERAL. 

to sei-ve thee. Grant that as they look back on this 
ministry of half a century, it may be to look forward 
with prayer and hope and love, by which they will 
hereafter be united. Bless thy church everywhere in 
the words of thy ministering servants. Be with the 
university which he loved, the schools which were his 
care, with all those charities which throve and pros- 
pered under his wise direction and tender love, with 
so many of thy servants who ha\-e blessed and thanked 
him here, and who will thank him always when they 
shall meet him in the heavenly kingdom. Father, 
give of thy life and strength to those who shall follow 
in his footsteps. Now we bear his body reverently 
and humbly, that we lay it away, — earth to earth, 
dust to dust, ashes to ashes. He has heard the call 
and has gone home to thee. O Father, as we return 
from this solemn service to our homes, thou wilt re- 
turn with us, wilt bless us, wilt help us to look upward 
to thee and thy kingdom. Thou wilt be with thy 
servants to-night when they cannot sleep, and teach 
them strength and bless them. And thou wilt be with 
this church which thou hast favored in the days that 
have gone by. So be pleased to be with us, each and 
every one. So teach us by the lips of him who is the 
resurrection and the life ; so bless us in this Holy 
Spirit, who is the Comforter, and only comforter, 
that that blessing shall be with us forever and ever. 
Amen. 



SERVICES AT THE FUNERAL. 47 

Response. Music by Witt. 

" How sweet to be allowed to pray, 
To God the Holy One : 
AVith filial love and trust to say, 
O God, thy will be done. 

" Oh, teach my heart the blessed way. 
To imitate thy Son ! 
Teach me, O God, in truth to pray, 
' Thy will, not mine, be done.' " 

Hymn. Tune, " Boylston." Lowell Mason. 

" Sen'ant of God, well done ; 
Rest from thy loved employ : 
The battle fought, the victory won, 
Enter thy Master's joy. 

' Tranquil amidst alarms, 
It found him on the field ; 
A veteran slumbering on his arms, 
Beneath his red-cross shield. 

" The pains of death are past ; 
Labor and sorrow cease ; 
And, life's long warfare closed at lasl. 
His soul is found in peace. 

" Soldier of Christ, well done ; 
Praise be thy new employ ; 
And while eternal ages run. 
Rest in thy Saviour's joy." 



48 SERVICES AT THE FUNERAL. 

ADDRESS BY REV. JOHN G. BROOKS. 
" He being dead, yet speaketh." Heb. xi. 4. 

Among friends, it is pleasant to speak of those we 
love. We are here as friends of the dead ; grateful 
that such privilege has been ours, and sad with deep 
and common grief that the earthly relationship has 
closed. None ever knew him but is now proud that 
he could call George Putnam his friend. They who 
knew him best have now the heaviest hearts. They 
who knew him longest will suffer most their loss. It 
has been given me briefly to speak of this friend, and 
it is my happiness that I speak to those who loved 
him with a great and enduring love. I have not to 
persuade you of any grace or power which he pos- 
sessed. You are already persuaded. The complete- 
ness of his life you know better than I. The noble 
vigor of his manhood was spent among you and for 
you. So many years you were blessed by the fine 
genius of his mind and heart ; so long you stood near 
him in his life's battle that its story is written openly 
and clearly in your memories. You read there what 
signal benefits he has bestowed upon this community ; 
what he was in the greater and in the lesser moments 
of its history. His trumpet tones of cheer in the long 
night of civil war you still hear. As if yesterday, you 
remember what inspiration he was to your public 



SERVICES AT THE FUNERAL. 49 

griefs ; what consolation to your private anguish. 
You know, too, what he was in the upbuilding of a 
better system of education ; what sanction and strong 
help he gave to every high and desirable fact for 
which you, as a community, had to struggle. With 
the strength of an hundred men he always struck for 
the side that was right. In the eternal conflict of 
society between higher and lower ideals, there is no 
greater boon than the presence of such sovereign 
personal influence — such rugged and manly sense as 
he possessed, — especially when it is crowned by in- 
tellectual training and the graces of a Christian spirit. 
This community cannot forget his large and timely 
service. 

Even better, you know what he has been to this 
church. Constant, steadfast, and true during almost 
half a century. Other churches held out to him in- 
ducements which many men would not have resisted. 
Where one's advantage lies excuses can easily be 
turned to reasons and to duties ; but no prize or 
importunity even shook his fidelity to this society. 
Still other honors beckoned him ; the dignity of a 
university career was laid at his feet, and to such a 
mind it had the highest charms, but he did not lay 
down his trust here to take up even that; all foreign 
dignities called to him in vain. As life opened to 
him he chose his home with you, and here he stayed, 



50 SERVICES AT THE FUNERAL. 

giving to you freely the long and faithful energy of 
his life. What reason has this society for its great 
love to him who was loyal even unto death ! 

But best of all, you know what he has been to you 
as individuals, what swift response he made to needs 
which only the finest human sympathy can reach. In 
life's vexed hours, what wise and prudent counsel ; in 
every place to which you called him, what mastery of 
the occasion ! When in that moment of sudden woe, 
which, soon or late, falls to every human lot, where, 
as to him, could you turn for help ? The community, 
the church, and the individual must feel their debt to 
such a Hfe. 

It is thus only a part of what you already know that 
I can utter. A man's biography is written before it 
is inscribed in any book or upon paper. Day by day 
and year by year it is transcribed in the hearts of 
those who fellowship with him. The life story of him 
whom we mourn is to you an open and familiar page- 
A few are here who knew him in his morning promise. 
Many are here who knew his noontide strength. It 
was mine only to greet him in the evening of his 
days, when his kindly eyes were turned, for the most 
part, backward toward the past. Thus, though I can 
speak only in part, I may safely trust your hearts 
amply to supply what my knowledge and opportunity 
shall be bound to lack. 



SERJVCES AT THE FUNERAL. 51 

Of many gifts, so nobly conspicuous in his career, 
there is no need now to speak at any length. All 
the master impulses of his life you have felt. 

By one or two traits of a cjuieter nature, I was 
deeply and constantly impressed in those hours of 
companionship which it was my privilege to enjoy. 
He often spoke of his work-day life as at an end. 
His conversation was much of the past. We all know 
that it had its triumphs ; successes which come only 
to the few ; but almost never did he speak of or refer 
to those things which others applauded. Lightly and 
unheeded they lay in the background of his mind. 
In one of those last hours in which he spoke freely 
upon such subjects, he said : " Men have their suc- 
cesses, one this and one that, one a little more and 
another a little less ; but that one should overtop 
another, what does it signify } " The large results of 
his own life seemed thus slight and unimportant in 
his own eyes. With all his overcoming he was 
clothed, as in a garment, with that rarest grace in a 
strong man — modesty. His long and useful services 
to schools, libraries, and college had little public dis- 
tinction or recognition, and it pleased him well that 
it was so. We may truly say of him as has been said 
of another, " The wisest man could ask no more of 
fate than to be simple, modest, manly, true. Safe 
from the many, honored by the few ; nothing to 



52 SERJVCES AT THE FUNERAL. 

court in world, or church, or state; that such a man 
could spring from our decays, fans the soul's nobler 
faith until it burn." 

Another trait was a certain mental and moral tem- 
perance, a shunning of excess in speech and in thought. 
His praise and his blame, his admiration and his stric- 
tures, were always dispassionate and calm. There 
was neither fussiness nor heat, but throughout the se- 
renity and repose of genuine strength. One element 
in philosophy he greatly prized, " the golden mean." 
It was, perhaps, this characteristic that brought him 
so close to realities. Never was a man more cautious 
against thin and cunning speculation ; never one 
more drawn to the unquestioned facts of life. With 
the man of business his pulpit speech became current 
coin, as serviceable and as solid as gold. 

The great emphasis of his life was upon those 
moral certainties which every man's experience may 
test. Your hearts quickened under his utterance, be- 
cause his theme was alive ; alive with such life as 
you were living. He did not go far away for his 
subjects ; they were such as his eyes rested upon here, 
such as his ears heard and his heart felt, among those 
to whom he ministered. He knew the nature of truth 
so well that he never tried to make it stretch. He 
did not deal with what was strong to the fancy and 
weak to the reason. He took no liberties with com- 



SERVICES AT THE FUA'ERAL. 53 

mon sense. What he gave was happily and helpfully 
available for the daily perplexities incident to usual 
human experience. His aim seemed to be to make 
all common facts testify to the reasonableness of a 
noble life. 

When we are profoundly moved by the play of 
mental and moral power such as his ; when we are 
drawn by a might that wins, and yet compels, it al- 
ways puzzles us to know just what the magic faculty 
is which so overcomes the listener. We shield our 
ignorance by calling it "magnetism, or some equally 
cabalistic title. We may name it as we will — we 
can only say that, when under its spell, we felt the 
touch of the master. We felt that a soul was there — 
one of uncommon power, speaking to us so that we 
must give heed. 

In that past which you now so love to remember, 
when you came here to listen to his mighty pleading 
for more strenuous efforts to do well, you could not 
sleep, or dream, or give way to idle fancies, you had 
to hear him deliver his message to your souls. 
Whether it was his topic, his bearing, or the native 
charm of his eloquence, you felt that you were in the 
presence of a man, one who gave you a part of him- 
self. If his sermon was upon " Reserved Power," you 
knew that he possessed it so amply that no sudden 
call could find him off his guard, but always equal 



54 SERVICES AT THE FUNERAL. 

to the hour. If he spoke of" Beauty and Bands," j^ou 
knew that he had within himself both gentleness and 
strength. Whenever such a spirit does duty under 
God in this world, men yield willingly to his influence 
and at his departure shed grateful tears that their 
journey and his lay for a little time side by side. 

He came here to you, and who of you does not now 
thank God that you knew him, and received so much 
from the full treasure of his life. Thus, though we 
are met in sorrow, it is not often that sorrow has so 
much to allay its bitterness. The disease seemed — 
when it fell — sadly out of time. Still, the years of 
his ministry were full and long. If we take the higher 
measure of a man's days we shall not find that his was 
scant. " He most lives who thinks most, feels the 
noblest, acts the best." 

By this truer reckoning his days were many and 
his dower rich. Wanting but two years he came to 
Roxbury a half century ago, on the nth of April, 
1830, the very date that is now hallowed by his 
death, and upon this Sunday, forty-eight years ago, 
he preached, as a candidate, his first sermon in this 
church, the walls of which are to you written all over 
with his tenderest thoughts. You now bear in your 
memories the precious freight of his instruction. Ev- 
ery separate life here he made better worth living. 
He enlarged the scope of your finer activities, quick- 



SERVICES AT THE FUNERAL. 55 

ened your best impulses, gave intensest life and tone 
to the community and made every duty more sacred. 

Surely, for such large bequest, there is reason for 
gratitude. Neither can we be un2;rateful that his last 
days were so full of peace ; that he passed so softly 
from the turmoil here to the great rest of the other 
life. A tired child in the arms of its mother could 
not drop to sleep more gently than did he. It was 
just as he wished : from the sleejDless guardianship, 
from the tender ministries of a most loving earthly 
home, to fall so quietly into the open welcome of the 
unseen and eternal home. " My end is reached," he 
said. " I do not fear it. I am content." A life or- 
dered so wisely and so well, with such large title to 
your love and veneration, hardly needs the poor meed 
of our praises. 

Is there yet no duty remaining to the living ? For 
the dead, all who knew him speak as with one com- 
mon voice, " Servant of God, well done." You who 
are here would have no keener joy than to pay a 
fitting tribute to his memory, and certainly few men 
ever left a finer opportunity to do them honor when 
gone. An opportunity which came from its rarest 
faculty — the faculty of speaking the truth so that it 
could not be forgot. That supreme gift God does not 
often bestow. It is as if He wished to be sure that 
one whom He so endowed would use His talent well. 



56 SERVICES AT THE FUNERAL. 

But to him the gift was freely entrusted, and he so 
employed it that, though his discourses never go to 
press, they are lettered and bound in a far more read- 
able form. They are bound up in a thousand loving 
hearts. There is where he printed. Scores of inci- 
dents attest the unfailing presence of his words when 
they had once dropped into the mind. 

Forty-eight years ago to-day he preached here ; and, 
lately, one who heard him told me — from his mem- 
ory — the thought of the sermon. No volume can 
serve such purpose as that. This master skill of 
printing on the living mind so that the words root 
themselves for life, insures a very constant reading 
and re-reading of the speaker's thought. It is then 
always present with one. It is there when it is needed, 
and when the deeper experiences came to you, when 
the shadow and the chill of some pain crept over your 
life, his words leaped to your lips. Yes, and thank 
God, they will continue to speak and to comfort, and 
thus it is that, though dead, he yet speaketh. 

Though the eloquent lips are forever closed, and 
the great heart still, the words which he so engraved 
upon your minds will not lose their power. While 
your memories last they will last. And here is the 
duty and the opportunity of those who survive. 

The perfect simplicity of him whom we delight to 
honor would have shrunk from outward shows of 



SERVICES AT THE FUNERAL. 57 

respect ; but one homage we may pay him wliich 
he would have welcomed, and there seems no excuse 
that we should fail to pay it. The rich and varied 
wisdom of his words has grown into your hearts and 
you cannot forget it. Our fairest honor to him then 
is this — that we turn his remembered precepts into 
daily life. He left no duty untouched. He so spoke 
of honesty that you remember it ; but we shall honor 
his memory, not in the fact that we cannot forget 
what he said, but in this: that we turn his counsel 
into a more perfect integrity. He spoke of tempta- 
tion. When it meets us, and we recall some words of 
light which he spoke about it, our regard for him will 
be in flying from it as he bade us. Thanks to him 
the way and the means to do him lasting and perfect 
honor will always be present -with you who cannot 
forget the pith and excellence of his teaching. The 
holy trust which he left behind depends now upon 
the living. God grant that we may be true to it. 
His part was nobly done. May they who survive and 
carry so much of him in their hearts see to it that his 
power for good is as great in their future as it has 
been in their past. 

God gave to you this long and precious life. You 
and yours have been blessed by it. Do you not owe 
it both to God and to him, who has now gone, that. 



58 SERVICES AT THE FUNERAL. 

as he lived for you wItcii here, he now, by your effort, 
still live in and through you ? 

If most sermons ascend soon like thin vapor, out of 
sight and out of mind, his did not. He seemed to use 
the mother-tongue of nature herself, speaking not to 
what came by education or by artifice, but to what was 
deepest and most abiding in the listener, and out of 
your very inability to forget, comes a very solemn ob- 
ligation to obey and turn to life, words which will not 
leave the heart. This is the fairest memorial we can 
erect to his name. Then, though dead, he will yet 
speak mightily in our behalf 

A few days before his death he said, " I should like 
to go to work. I never was so well fitted for it as 
now. I have watched life and know a little more 
about it than in earlier years. I am just ready for it." 

Does the great Father of us all prepare such a mind 
for work, just get him ready, and then extinguish him 
as a flame .'' We will not believe it. We will trust 
that he has gone as he wished, to help others, as he 
helped us. He sunk as the sun sinks of a summer 
night, and his words of hope were like the splendor 
flung back upon the clouds to tell us that the sun 
still shines, though we cannot see it. Has not this 
strong helper, too, — he who gave so much light and 
comfort to our day, — only gone behind the horizon 
of this our mortal vision ; gone from us, yet still to 



SERVICES AT THE FUNERAL. 59 

shed his light for others' guidance ; still to use for 
others' needs the tenderness and the strength which 
made him to you here so great a blessing 

10. Hymn. Tune, "Amsterdam." James Nares, i']to. 

" Rise, my soul, and stretch thy whigs, — 

Thy better portion trace ; 
Rise, from transitory things, 

Toward heaven, thy native place : 
Sun and moon and stars decay. 

Time shall soon this earth remove ; 
Rise, my soul, and haste away 

To seats prepared above. 

" Rivers to the ocean run, 

Nor stay in all their course ; 
Fire ascending seeks the sun, — 

Both speed them to their source : 
So a soul that 's born of God 

Pants to view his glorious face, 
Upward tends to his abode. 

To rest in his embrace." 

After benediction by the Reverend Dr. Peabody, 

the remains were deposited at Mount Auburn, the 
following members of the society acting as pall bear- 
ers, namely : — 

John J. Clarke, Charles Hickling, 

James Guild, William G. Russell, 

Samuel C. Cobb, Joseph W. Tucker. 



MINISTERS OF THE "FIRST CHURCH" AND OF THE 
"FIRST RELIGIOUS SOCIETY" IN ROXBURY, FROM 
1631 TO 1878. 

Thomas Welde, 1632-1641. Oliver Peabody, 1750-1752. 

John Eliot, 1632-1690. Amos Adams, 1753-1775- 

Samuel Danforth, 1650-1674. Eliphalet Porter, 17S2-1833. 

Nehemiah Walter, 1688-1750. George Putnam, 1830-1878. 

Thomas Walter, 1718-1725. John Graham Brooks, 1875- 



